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Obsession

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Written by

Obsession

Bitcoin, the virtual currency created in 2009, is having a busy day. But not in the US, thanks to the country’s murky and cumbersome regulations.

Today (Oct. 29), the first bitcoin ATM opened in Vancouver, Canada, and a new bitcoin exchange for high-frequency trading launched in Europe.

Robocoin, the bitcoin ATM now operating at Waves Coffee, a café in Vancouver, allows the user to buy bitcoins for cash, or vice versa, on the spot. There’s a reason it’s located in Vancouver: Canada’s financial system is a lot less tricky than that of the US. And Coinfloor, the new exchange that opened for registration today and begins trading next week, is headquartered in the UK, where it doesn’t require regulation because the financial authorities don’t classify bitcoin as money. The service will only execute trades from the UK and Europe.

Those signs of retreat from US-based bitcoin infrastructure could set the country back if digital currencies become more mainstream.

“The way the regulatory dance works in the US, I think you will see more innovation elsewhere,” Petter Vessenes, chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation, which is planning to move its headquarters out of the US, told the Financial Times (paywall).